


Codex entry: A Letter from the Hero

by against_stars



Series: rome was also built on ruins [4]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Epistolary, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-02-23
Packaged: 2018-05-22 19:32:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6091717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/against_stars/pseuds/against_stars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[<i>The letter is long, the text taking up several pages, but most of it is nonsensical — a code, of course. Deciphered by its intended recipient, it reads thus:</i>]</p><p>"[...] I’m not saying I miss the days where we spent weeks on foot, hungry, dirty, desperate for support, with the threat of an archdemon and its army of death hanging over us — but I do miss things being more straightforward. Well, a little more straightforward.</p><p>Well, I miss <i>you</i>."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Codex entry: A Letter from the Hero

**Author's Note:**

> Written for an askbox meme on tumblr to write codex pages for your Dragon Age OCs — in this case, "a letter from your OC to their love interest" — that got, um... a little out of hand, for a supposed codex page.

[ _The letter from Warden-Commander Tabris is long, the text taking up several pages, but most of it is nonsensical — a code, of course._

 _Deciphered by its intended recipient, it reads thus —_ ]

Zevran,

Yesterday I got back from a three week trip through the area around Amaranthine. There were reports there of suspicious walking corpse activity (as if there's any other kind of walking corpse activity!) near one of the lakes — I could've sent a Senior Warden with a party to take care of it, said my Warden-Constable, it was hardly worth the attention of the Warden-Commander. It wasn't like it was darkspawn.

Well, I'd been feeling restless anyway, and just for that I went out immediately to take care of it myself. Turned out to be some old relic stirring up the remains of some unlucky souls left over from the Blight — not hard to put down. Spent the rest of the trip going around the area talking to the locals, making sure everyone was doing okay. The corpses hadn't done more than scare some folks, thankfully, but times have been so difficult that I've got to look in on everybody.

A couple of them talked about joining up. Farmer's middle children and stuff, aimless, looking for something to do for the sake of doing it. I told them how to get in contact with us if they decided they were serious, because with the Blight over it's not like recruits are pouring in no matter how much better our reputation is now, but I told them to really think about it first. The list of names I carry is long enough without being weighed down with people who only tried because they were bored.

Maker, how old do I sound? It's all these months without one of your massages. I'm getting as creaky and maudlin as a hahren, seeing death between everyone's teeth and eyelashes. Maybe if you hurried up and got back here you could get me nice and relaxed again.

When I got back, the Warden-Constable had sure changed his rotting tune, telling me how good it was that I continued to 'make myself known', that anyone on the fence about joining would be sure to make the right choice upon seeing the 'renowned Hero of Ferelden'. He said, "It looks good to have people see the Hero taking a personal interest in the safety of her holdings."

I want to say I can't believe how manipulative he made it sound, but that would be a lie because I absolutely can believe it. As if I was doing it to look good! As if it was just a performance! That's one of the things I can't stand about being technically noble now — everything I do is inspected under the lenses of people out for hidden meanings, out for something to profit from, like jewelers with those popped-out glasses. Like I'm something to angle a light around until they figure out where I've got my shiny side and where I've got my flaws.

You know who never did that? You never did that. You and Leliana and Alistair, Wynne, everyone. None of you really cared what I could do for you, not really. Even Oghren didn't really make demands of me, once we were done with Branka, and his first demands about her weren't hardly unreasonable. And Morrigan never let what she needed affect how she treated me — void, you'd think she'd have tried to be nicer from the start if she was going to ask me for something so monumental eventually, but no, she was just her prickly self, no slimy, false attempts to ingratiate herself.

I'm not saying I miss the days where we spent weeks on foot, hungry, dirty, desperate for support, with the threat of an archdemon and its army of death hanging over us — but I do miss things being more straightforward. Well, a little more straightforward.

Well, I miss _you_.

Speaking of Morrigan, there's been a lead on her trail. I know she said she didn't want to be followed, and I know you said to just leave her be, but I can't. I don't care about the power, I have no interest in trying to take it from her — she can keep that. I just want to know that she's all right. She's my friend and I love her, and she's had to go through so much all alone. I just want her to know that she doesn't have to.

Her baby would be about a year old by now, did you know? I hope she had a safe birth. I wonder what she named it?

I've been practicing my Antivan — my accent won't be any better than the last time you complained about it, because I have no one here to correct me on it, but I can read and write more than before. Maybe I can't ask for directions very well, but I can follow the street signs well enough. Now you truly have no excuse not to let me come with, once I've found Morrigan.

If you're going to try to argue with me again, let me save you some time: Don't! There's nothing here that can't be done just as well without me. There's no Blight for me to point an army at, there's no talking darkspawn, there's nothing new to fight. There's just me pouring good people, good Wardens, like grist into the endless mill of the rotten fucking Deep Roads.

The fabled "Hero" doesn't need to be here for that to happen, the great "Warden-Commander" isn't required to send the orders. It'll happen with or without me. I could be out doing something good, something useful, something helpful. I could be with you.

You said in your last letter that you were nearly done with this mission, that you would have a longer time to visit between the next one. You also said I could request anything from Antiva and you would bring it to me — normally I would take you up on such an open-ended (ha!) offer with shameless enthusiasm — but it has been long enough since I've seen you that I don't want you to waste travel time on obtaining trinkets or treasures. I'll tell you exactly what I want: for you to come back to me. For me to go with you.

I want muddy, frosty nights in our tent on the way to the harbor. I want to pretend I'm not scared about riding a horse on the trip, I want you to pretend the only reason you're letting me ride with you on your horse instead of mine is so you can make fun of me for being scared even though your arm is steady and solid around my waist. I want you to hold my hair back when I donate my dinner to the Waking Sea on the way to Antiva. I want you to show me your city — first all the best places, so I love it as much as you do, then all the worst, so I can kiss you while we stand there and make them better in your memory. I want you to show me how you've begun to gut the Crows, so I can help you leave them to the vultures.  
I want to do something good and exciting again, but mainly, I very badly want you to be by my side.

And now I've gone and made myself sound foolish and swoony for you there without even a single dirty double-ententre, so you definitely owe me.

(Well — I say I don't want baubles, and that's true, but I wouldn't say no to a few pomegranates, or some more of those exciting spices you sent a while ago. You just can pick those up on your way, though.)

Amor para siempre (see how good I'm getting?),  
Riona

[ _The letter is dated two months before Warden-Commander Tabris disappeared from Vigil's Keep. The last confirmed sighting of her placed her in the Amaranthine Harbor with a cloaked figure, though rumor abounds that she chased a Crow assassin all the way to Antiva._ ]

**Author's Note:**

> come hang out with me [on tumblr](against-stars.tumblr.com), it's mostly Dragon Age and me rambling or doodling my silly OCs.


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